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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Eolyn by Karin Rita Gastreich - Guest Post, Book Review & Giveaway

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About Karin Rita Gastreich

Karin Rita Gastreich writes stories of ordinary women and the extraordinary paths they choose. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she is part of the biology faculty at Avila University. An ecologist by vocation, Karin has wandered forests and wild lands for over twenty years. Her past times include camping, hiking, music, and flamenco dance. In addition to The Silver Web trilogy, Karin has published short stories in World Jumping, Zahir, Adventures for the Average Woman, and 69 Flavors of Paranoia. She is a recipient of the Spring 2011 Andrews Forest Writer’s Residency.

This question could be taken a lot of different directions, from the general appeal of magic across the genre of fantasy, to the special importance of magic in Eolyn’s world.

In chapter three of the first novel of The Silver Web, Eolyn and Akmael meet as children. During this encounter, Eolyn discovers that unbeknownst to her, she has been learning magic. She and Akmael have the following exchange:

“Whenever I draw earth from the air, there’s a sensation that makes me feel all warm inside,” Eolyn said. “Does that happen to you? Does magic make you happy, like when the sun shines on a spring day or when winter’s first snow begins to fall?”

“I don’t know.” Akmael had to think for a moment. “It’s not exactly happiness I feel, it is more like a sense of power over great movement, as if a river were flowing through my hands. It reminds me a little of what it’s like to ride a spirited horse.”

In just a few sentences, Eolyn and Akmael capture one of the fundamental beauties of magic: The experience of magic is unique for each individual. Even for the same person, invoking magic as a child has an entirely different quality compared to invoking magic as an adult.

In Eolyn’s world, magic is forbidden to women. The ruling class claims many justifications for this prohibition, but in the end, everything boils down to one concern: Magic is a source and symbol of power. The noblemen of Eolyn’s world, anxious to maintain control over restless and sometimes rebellious subjects, stripped women of the rights to practice magic because they fear that women’s magic incites sedition.

Maybe they’re right. Then again, maybe a little bit of sedition would not be such a bad thing in this brutal medieval realm.

Eolyn, in fact, is not a warmonger. All she desires is the opportunity to express her gifts fully, and to use these gifts to serve her people. But in order to get that opportunity, she may have to wage war against those who would rather see her burn.

Those are a few thoughts on magic in Eolyn’s world. What about magic for the rest of us?

For me as a reader and an author, magic brings a sense of the unexpected to any story. By definition, magic breaks the rules, often in surprising ways. Magic also adds a layer of wonder to any moment or journey. This is true in our lives and in our stories. Like many people, I like to see magic in my everyday life, in the beauty of spring flowers, summer sunsets, and fresh-fallen snow.

Eolyn was very young when a heart wrenching tragedy sent her deep into the woods. Being guided by the Guendes she found Ghemena. A high maga who lives in solitude after escaping her own death.

It is believed that there are no maga left in the world so they must be careful they won't be discovered.

Eolyn goes out in the woods all the time and it is there that she meets a young boy. He is a mage and is trained to become a high mage. What she doesn't know is that when he grows up he will be in the position to make or break her.

When Ghemena learns who eolyn's mother was she teaches her everything that a maga needs to know. Eolyn excepts her true calling and is being honored by the Dragon to become a High Maga.

With this calling also comes a difficult path. Every woman in the nation is being carefuly watched.

If anyone suspects them being a witch they will end up on the pyre. Only the men can have magical abilities. A male witch is a mage and they are all being trained by a very powerful and dark wizard who once made sure all the High Maga found their excruciating death.

Eolyn is such a sweet and pure girl but not naive. I loved those subbleties about her. She is the only High Maga alive and she is destined and determent to bring magic back into the lives of all people. Even though she has seen a lot of tragedies in her life she still remains positive and strong.

Together with her own 'army' she will face the King to get the succesful outcome they all long for. When enemies become allies and allies become possible enemies who will come out on top?

Will Eolyn be able to see through the people who are closest to her of will she end up paying for her mistakes?

Karin Rita Gastreich created a wonderful magical world that sometimes feels like a fairytale.

The main characters are so diverse in all their abilities that it is a joy to read about them. It was very easy for me to clearly picture the scenes. Even though it's sometimes hard to

understand how the worlds work within this genre I had no trouble at all with understanding the story straight from the start and I found myself totally grabbed by all the magical beings that are a part of Eolyn's world.

114 comments:

Well, there are so many, it's hard to narrow it down. Some of the books of my formative years should probably go on the list, such as Grimm's Fairy Tales and the Little House on the Prairie series. But over the years, I have mostly read history and historical fiction. Some of the authors I've most enjoyed in these genres are Elaine Pagels, who writes about the history of the early Christian church, and Philippa Gregory, with her novels based in medieval and Tudor England. I'm consistently drawn to stories about women in medieval and Renaissance times.

In addition to the people I mentioned in my response to Mai, I'm a fan of Gioconda Belli, the Nicaraguan poet and author who wrote The Country Beneath My Skin, a memoir of her involvement in the Sandinista Revolution. That book was so well-written and resonated with me on so many levels. It's stayed with me a long time and influenced many aspects of my writing.

Thanks, Kayl! There were many sources of inspiration for magic in Eolyn's world. In the years leading up to when I started writing the book, I had the opportunity to work with professionals in the field of ethnobiology. It was through that exchange that I finally understood what I wanted from magic in Eolyn's story. Her magic needed to be informed by the natural world and dependent upon it. I also realized that the philosophy and practice of magic should vary from culture to culture; that magic should reflect important aspects of the cultural world view. Once I had that foundation, everything else fell into place.

Oh, everything. :) My very first story was based on a dream I had when I was a little girl. I've been writing ever since. For many years, writing was a hobby. EOLYN is the first novel that I've published.

I think EOLYN got started because I wanted to write a fantasy where women would play complex and central roles. But writing in general has been a part of my life for a very long time. It's just a lot of fun for me, inventing and sharing stories.

Hi Kate! The photo was taken near Cerro de la Muerte in Costa Rica. It's one of the highest mountains in the country. The vegetation is not forest, but low shrubby stuff called paramo. Trees can't grow there because of the altitude. A couple hundred meters below this point, you start to get oak-dominated cloud forest - the type of ecosystem that inspired some of the forests in EOLYN. It's a beautiful region and one of my favorite places to visit.

Pretty much anywhere. I have spaces in my house set aside for writing, but I also enjoy writing in coffee shops and in my journal outdoors. Once a year, I attend a writer's retreat at Virginia Beach, which is also a great place to write.

Thank you! I really like the cover, too. The artist is Thomas Vandenberg. He's a big fan of EOLYN, and before he started work on the cover art, we talked about options and agreed on this scene. Tom pretty much took it from there, in terms of images and design, but he did base his dragon on the description I provide in the book. I think he did an awesome job, and am happy to say he will also be doing the cover art for THE SWORD OF SHADOWS, Book 2 in this series.

The truth is, I have a really hard time finding things I enjoy on TV. I do watch the PBS Newshour every day. I also like it when a good series comes out. Some of my favorites (reaching back a ways) have been Rome, Battlestar Galactica, and Isabel (a Spanish-language series about Queen Isabella). I also loved Downton Abbey.

In general, I'm drawn toward fantasy, historical fiction, and science fiction in series, just like in my reading. More contemporary shows like Breaking Bad and House of Cards don't really grab me, not because they aren't well done, but because they don't appeal to my need for escapism.

Right now, I'm on the hunt for a new series to watch. I have been watching Game of Thrones, but I have a lot of issues with that show. Still, at the moment, it's the best thing out there in medieval fantasy.

Usually if I try to watch TV, I get bored pretty quickly and end up reading or writing instead.

Interesting question! I've never thought about it before, but now that you mention it, I do kind of feel like fantasy chose me. The very first story I ever wrote was a fantasy, and while I enjoy reading a wide variety of genres, fantasy is what I most like to write.

Well, I've been writing as a past time since I was very young, but I didn't get serious about publishing until I finished the first draft of EOLYN. I started sharing it with other people, and after some very positive responses, decided to polish it up and start querying. Eventually, I landed my first contract with Hadley Rille Books, and here I am today...

The most challenging scenes were the battle scenes, but I had some great critique partners to help me through those, and in the end it was a lot of fun. I was especially pleased when Publishers Weekly high lighted the battle scenes as one of the strengths of the book.

There was a time when I was in high school when I wanted to be a novelist, but I was coached away from that and eventually chose a career in the sciences instead. I don't regret my decision, but I also never stopped writing. I'm really happy to have completed EOLYN and very excited to share her with the world. :)